THE GANGSTER, THE COP, THE DEVIL: Don Lee To Star In Sylvester Stallone’s Remake Of The Upcoming Korean Crime Thriller

Serial killer thriller The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil is only a week from its South Korean release with actor Don Lee – billed locally as Ma Dong-Seok – starring in a key role. Nevertheless, that’s not putting the breaks on the film’s prospects anytime soon it seems as word now brings us news of its upcoming remake thanks to Sylvester Stallone’s Balboa Productions and BA Entertainment.

According to THR‘s Lee Hyo-won, Stallone will direct the film reinterpreting director Lee Won-Tae’s original which stars Lee as a gangster who, after becoming the sole survivor among a raft of murdered crimebosses, reluctantly pairs up with a dogmatic cop who despises gangsters, to take the serial killer down. BA produced the film starring Lee along with Forgotten star Kim Moo-Yul who plays the cop opposite the titular ‘Devil’ serial killer portrayed by Kim Seong-Gyu.

The film lends to actor Lee’s credit having appeared in a number of hit movies between both supporting and starring roles, many have which favored him well in the public eye as for his sizeable frame as a weightlifter and MMA practioner suitable for tough guy roles. Some of these include Well Go USA releases like Yeon Sang-ho’s hit zombie epic, Train To Busan, Kim Yong-Wan’s Champion, Kim Min-ho’s Unstoppable, and Kim Yong-Hwa’s record-breaking franchise hit sequel, Along With The Gods: The Last 49 Days.

For Stallone’s film, Lee will reprise his role as ‘The Gangster’ for the English-language adaptation, and will also serve as producer along with Stallone, Balboa’s Braden Aftergood (Wind River), and BA Entertainment CEO Jang Won-seok. The original film is currently slated for the Midnight section of the Cannes line-up, with Kiwi Media Group releasing the film next week in South Korea and in Singapore later this month with wider releases forthcoming.

The news comes off the heels of Lee’s recent casting addition billing him with a role in Marvel’s The Eternals, which The Rider helmer Chloe Zhao is directing from a script currently by Matthew and Ryan Firpo. At home, Lee’s screen presence will continue onward with a sequel to 2018 hit actioner, The Outlaws, and a feature-film spin-off of OCN crime procedural, Bad Guys.

Stallone, following his recent, poignant exit from the Rocky franchise with Creed 2, has several upcoming titles on his docket, including John Herzfeld’s Escape Plan: The Extractors with Dave Bautista and Max Zhang, another final franchise bow in Adrian Grunberg’s Rambo: Last Blood, releasing September 20, 2019 from Lionsgate.